BANGOR – The Bangor Land Trust is taking registrations for its second annual Frogs, Logs and Bogs Road Ride, a 28-mile loop for bicycle riders beginning and ending at the Bangor Waterfront.

Planned this year for Sept. 14, the ride through several communities that flank the Penobscot River was established last October as the land trust’s annual signature event to raise money for the stewardship of the more than 300 acres it manages and to increase the community’s awareness of the trust and its holdings.

Last year’s 20-mile route took bikers up Route 2 through Veazie and Orono, crossed over to Stillwater Avenue by way of Kelly Road and turned left on Forest Avenue for the return to the waterfront by way of Essex Street.

This year, the ride has been lengthened to 28 miles at the request of participants, said Dick Andren, the BLT board member and avid bicyclist who came up with the idea.

It will start at the Bangor Waterfront, travel along Route 2 through Veazie, Orono and Old Town, where riders will cross the bridge into Bradley and continue on Route 178. After a pit stop at the Bradley Municipal Building, where riders can get a drink of water, participants will head through Eddington and Brewer before crossing the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge to get back to the Bangor Waterfront.

For those who are daunted by such a long ride, a 14-mile route beginning or ending at the Bradley Municipal Building, the longer route’s midpoint, is available. A van will shuttle riders back and forth from Bradley.

“I did the ride on Sunday with my husband and it just really is beautiful,” Lucy Quimby, BLT president, said this week. “It’s a much nicer route than last year, with wider shoulders and nice views. It’s less hilly.”

Land trust officials said it was no accident that this year’s loop will take riders through eight of the 12 communities taking part in the Penobscot Valley Community Greenprint project, which also involves Hampden, Hermon, Holden and Orrington.

Through the project, members of the area Greenprint group are working with the Trust of Public Lands to develop a regional approach to expanding the amount of open space and conservation land in the area. Taking the route through participating towns and cities will help riders better understand the importance of open space and help member municipalities gain better insight into the needs of Maine’s growing number of bicyclists, Quimby noted.

The land trust has set a limit of 200 participants for the ride, which raised about $20,000 last year, according to BLT Executive Director Rand Erb.

Participants can register individually or as teams of three to five members and all must wear helmets, Andren said. Riders age 12 and younger need to be accompanied by an adult.

Registration on the day of the ride is 7:30-8:30 a.m., after which there will be a welcome address and a bicycle safety session. The ride starts at 9 a.m. and will be followed by a post-ride celebration with refreshments, music and awards from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Prizes will be awarded to the ride’s top fundraiser, owner of the best-decorated helmet and the rider who travels the longest distance to participate.

Riders will receive a T-shirt and a one-year membership to the land trust, which includes four issues of its newsletter and special events. The registration fee is $35 before Sept. 2, $40 after that. Riders are encouraged to recruit sponsors.

For more information or to sign up, visit BLT’s Web site at www.bangorlandtrust.org.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

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